All You Have To Do Is Believe
by wisedomsdaughter
Summary: My name is Jack Frost, and I'm a guardian. How do I know that? The moon told me so. So the next time the moon tells you something...believe it.
1. Spirit of Winter

Being the Spirit of Winter and the Guardian of fun, together, at the same time, was not, by any means, easy.

Because, yes, snow was fun; snowball fights and sledding down snowy hills was definitely fun, the cold that made drinking hot chocolate with your family was fun, that wasn't all there was to winter.

Winter wasn't all "snowballs and fun-times", wasn't always fun. There was another part of winter that no one liked the bring up. The negative aspects of winter.

It was, and always had been a sore subject for him. To be reminded that winter wasn't always postcard-perfect, and that, in fact, winter brought death a lot more than any other season.

That winter froze everything, brought death to shivering forms who couldn't get warm fast enough, that the snow he prided more than anything covered up tracks made by a lost soul who was never found until it was too late.

It wasn't as if he were ignorant of the deaths he had caused, the hurt he had caused to the innocent. Oh, he knew about them, all right, whether someone shouted it at him or he just saw the frozen beings lying in the snow - his snow - not moving, not breathing.

Winter also brought the flu, the heavy traffic, the ice that made cars skid across the roads and people to slip and fall, possibly injuring themselves.

And to mix all of that with his duty of bringing fun? To be a Guardian of children, the children he killed almost every year, in some part of the world? Some Guardian he was.

How could he possibly be both, the Spirit of Winter and the Guardian of Fun at the same time? It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible.

Bunnymund brought Spring, new beginnings. Sandman brought the golden dreams, the sleep that soothed the hurt children felt during the day. Tooth brought the little rewards, little tokens of appreciation for the children's belief. North brought the childish innocence, the anticipation for family. What did he bring? Winter. Cold. Death.

The only thing good about winter was snow, and snow wasn't always fun, anyway. The snowstorms he concocted when he was upset did a lot to vent his emotions but little to help the people around him.

Sometimes he just felt like a complete failure.


	2. Staff Tricks

He watched his staff clatter to the ground once again as he tried to combat the swirling motions inside of him.

"Okay," he growled. "Where am I getting it wrong?" A few days ago, Jack had watched a 'marching band' parade down the streets, and the lead guy had been twirling and tossing his baton thingy all around his head, but managed to catch it every single time. People had cheered for him so loudly it rattled the windows, so Jack, with his childish mind, pieces together the puzzle: if he could figure out how to work his staff he way that guy worked his baton, people would notice him. He would be acknowledged.

So he began to try. He tossed his staff up in the air so high he nearly lost it when he couldn't see where it fell, twisted it through the gap between his forefinger and middle finger, tried to flip it one hundred and eighty degrees in the air, but he just couldn't. And now he was sort of getting irritated.

If a mortal could do it, he reasoned, then so could he. He just had to figure out how to move his wrists better and he would be twirling his staff properly in no time.

He tossed his staff back into the air and scrambled to catch it when it fell a distance away from him.

"Darn you *****," he scowled at his staff, and because that made him feel better, he said it again. "Darn you!" He shouted. "Darn you, stupid staff and stupid wind and stupid Moon and stupid world and stupid humans! Darn you all!"

The wind ruffled his hair empathetically, knowing his winter spirit's feeling of being invisible to everyone but one.

"Try again," the wind seemed to encourage. "Try again."

So Jack took a deep breath and tossed his staff into the air once more. Only this time, the wind kept the staff going in a horizontal line upwards, so that when it fell, it fell right into the frost child's open palm.

Jack's eyes widened. "Did you see that?!" He almost yelled, voice so happy and triumphant it made the wind a little less guilty for cheating. "Did you see that? I did it! I did it!" The wind swept Jack into its arms as congratulations, dancing him through the air as he cheered and screamed because he had finally gotten it right.

After many years, the winter child would learn how to use his staff as an extension of his own body, not as a weapon or a stick. He would learn that people wouldn't see him because of his talents, but would see the results of his work.

***I am just assuming that when Jack was mortal, people didn't say "damn" or those other cuss/swear words. **


	3. Believe

** [You may murder me now. I'M SORRY! :( Life got in the way and I abandoned you guys. Oh, and to the Chinese, Happy New Year!]**

It was dare. Really, it was! It was dangerous, and stupid, and he never should have accepted it. But the thing was, that with a bunch of boys, still with the centre of children, let's not forget, they tend to do stupid and reckless things.

Jamie wasn't a daredevil. He was afraid of heights, and he believed in everything he read or saw. One more thing: he absolutely _hated_ being called chicken, because he wasn't. He was just very careful. He usually thought things through before doing them, but Monty calling him a 'sissy-baby- chicken' was the last straw. He accepted the dare.

Which was why, he, Jamie Bennett, was wearing his ice skates, standing in the slushy snow by Jack's lake: the one that was currently covered in a couple thin layers of ice. The dare was this – during springtime, right now, skate to the middle of the pond and come back. Simple.

Staring at the ice that did _not_ look sturdy, Jamie considered backing out. He glanced at the close huddle of his friends and steeled his resolve. He was doing the dare, because he was no quitter. Nor chicken.

He took a cautious step on to the ice, wincing. The ice did not crack. He took another step, and then another. The ice stayed firm. _Thank god,_ he thought, and took another step. He pushed himself off, his skates making bright white lines on the blue ice.

He beamed; it didn't look as if he was going to fall. He could finish the dare, safely, and without any parental figure knowing about it. He made the last stride and got to the middle of the pond.

"I did it!" He yelled to his friends on the shore triumphantly, bringing a skate down onto the ice in victory.

The ice shifted.

Cracks spider-webbed from the guilty skate, spreading like the plague, water seeping from the fissures. Jamie gasped, the elation gone, and cold, plain fear replacing it. He could hear the ice groan beneath his weight, the water spilling out even faster than before.

"Jamie!" Pippa cried. He squeezed his eyes shut; he wouldn't die now, _couldn't_ die now. If he died today, it would be him to blame, for accepting the dare, for foolishly thinking that the ice would never crack, because he was the winter spirit's best friend, first believer. He tried to stop the tears from forming – because what was there to cry about? – but they formed anyway, gathering at the corner of his brown eyes.

All of them knew what the lake was capable of. Heck, they'd heard Jack's story more times than they could count, knew that he had drowned in this lake – at this very spot. Knew that drowning, _dying_ was how he had become Jack Frost. _Dying_.

He could hear the buzz of voices but ignored them, _trying_ to go through his memories, see how Jack had made him laugh in the toughest of times, the darkest, bleakest times.

A whisper of cool wind kissed his cheeks, and Jamie dared to hope.

"Easy, now, Jamie," an all-too-familiar voice said.

Jamie nearly sobbed in relief. He opened his eyes, taking in the sight of his best fried, feet spread out on the ice and staff held at the ready. "Jack?"

"You got that right, kiddo." Jack's voice just barely concealed all his hidden emotions, but to Jamie it was as if he were back on the sidewalk, trying to nail Jack with a snowball and calling him the winter spirit, and how was he supposed to win then, if Jack had the power of snow, ice and wind?

"Okay, now," Jack forced a smile onto his face. Trying to look casual and unconcerned. But inside, he was freaking out. Would he save Jamie? _Could_ he save Jamie? What if he didn't? "Do you trust me?"

"Uh, no."

"Smart boy. Let me rephrase that. Do you _believe_ in me?"

"Always."

"Good. Now, how about we play a game? Uh, hopscotch!" Jack's breath burned in his throat, leaving searing, scaring _memories_ in its wake, but he simply forced himself to smile wider, even as his mind screamed for him to _get off the ice_, and couldn't he see that this was nearly _exactly how he had died_?

Jack knew, from experience, that attempting to use North Wind to save Jamie's life wouldn't work – he'd tried to get North Wind to dangle Bunny from the ceiling, but it didn't work at all. Jamie was no immortal, and even trying _with_ an immortal didn't work – it wouldn't work with Jamie either, because North Wind seemed incapable of carrying anyone else besides Jack himself. Jack supposed he _could_ freeze the ice, but he would only be able to freeze the ice _around_ Jamie, and probably Jamie's feet to a giant ice cube. Besides, that would be going against Spring; a light snow was tolerable and expected, but a frozen lake? No way.

Hopscotch it was.

"Right Jamie, this will be easy. Just take three hops forwards, like this." He took a very tiny step forwards, then a much larger one, pretending to slip on the ice, succeeding in making Jamie laugh. He took the last step closer to Jamie, and held his staff out just a little more. "Your turn."  
Jamie took a hesitant step forwards, glancing up at Jack fearfully.

"It'll be okay," Jack reassured him.

Jamie took a deep breath, and let it out. _Okay,_ he told himself. _Believe believe believe._

Jamie took another step forward, and then the last. Jack's staff hooked around his waist, and Jamie was flung into shallow waters. Spluttering, and sat up, waist deep in muddy, ice-cold water, completely soaked through, but so very much alive.

Jack floated towards him, riding on the winds, smirking. He landed on the ground a few feet away from Jamie, balancing his staff between his shoulder blades, both hands on either side of the wood.

"You going to tell me how you ended up like that?"

Jamie stood up, legs still shaking slightly, and attempted to wring out his soaked clothes. He was saved from answering when his friends finally made it to their side of the lake, panting and out of breath.

"Oh my _god_ Jamie!" Pippa splashed into the water and enveloped Jamie in a hug so tight he almost couldn't breath. "Never do that again! That was the most stupid thing you've ever done!"

Monty nodded. 'Yeah. Everyone knows I'm an idiot, so don't you _ever_ listen to me again."

"We were all so worried," Claude interrupted. "Thank goodness Jack was here."

At this, all eyes turned to the winter spirit. "What?" Jack blinked, and rubbed the back of his head in an 'aw, shucks' kind of gesture, smiling sheepishly. "It's my job to protect the children of the world, anyway, so…"

"It's getting late," Caleb observed.

"I hate to leave you here," Claude continued apologetically.

"But we gotta go." Caleb finished.

"Same here," Monty added. Pippa nodded in agreement.

"We can walk you back," Pippa suggested. She shot a glance at Jack, which did not go unnoticed by the boy.

"Naw, give me a few moments. I can get back myself." Jamie answered, helping himself and Pippa out of the water. With a few goodbyes, and see you tomorrows, the group parted. Once they had gone, there shadows no longer there, Jamie turned to Jack.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Jack honestly sounded surprised, like he had no idea why him saving a life was such a big deal.

"For saving me, that's what!" Jamie took a step towards Jack, hesitated, and then crossed the remaining steps and flung his arms around the teen.

"Woah!" Jack laughed, stumbling backwards a step. "It's my job, you know."

"I know. But this is just," Jamie stopped and stared up at his idol, the one whom he admired so much, now even more so. "This is just for being there."

"As long as you believe," was the reply.

** [I got lost and circled back around near the end.]**


	4. Watch

** [Hey guys! I have a request: can you please tell me if you liked or disliked the first chapter and why? I just realized I lost a bunch of readers on that chapter and can't figure out why. Thanks!]**

One snowy morning, a girl slipped off her watch and stared pleadingly at it, almost as if she were begging it to speak. It was one of those ancient watches with Roman numerals that hung from chains and always had an intricate design on the front.

It had hung from her neck for nearly sixteen years now, starting from when she was just four years old and had received the watch as a present from her grandfather.

"Keep it as though it is time itself," he grandfather had told her, as she played with her new possession. "Sometimes it may feel like you're just running out of time," he had said. "But you're never really running out of time; the pages have just been flipped, and a new chapter has begun."

Unable to stop it, a lone tear slipped from her lashes and down her face, finally exploding against the ground into millions of tiny droplets. The girl hooked the watch by the rusted chain on to a hook and left it there, knowing that, as a story goes, there must be a beginning and an ending, and winter was no doubt the ending. She whispered this out loud, and with a broken sniffle, turned on her heel and left, the watch still swaying on its perch, as if trying to call her back. But she did not turn.

From the trees, a boy emerged, lonesome eyes taking in the old wooden cabin, the watch hanging from its hook, the belongings that had not yet been cleared out from the cabin, and unexpectedly, he began to cry. As the tears fell, one by one, from crystalline blue eyes, it began to rain.

And as it rained, the old paint from the cabin began to wash off, the earth previously good for planting began to turn to mud, and the tension began to ease.

A girl cupped raindrops in her hands, and thus began a new chapter of her life.

A boy touched a watch hanging from a golden chain and frost crept from his fingertips to preserve it.

**[I know, suckish chapter. Sorry. (Based on a post on deviantART! Tell me what you think!]**


	5. Regret

**[Well, I edited this entire story of crap, but decided I needed a beta. If anyone wants to be my beta, or recommend someone to be my beta, please leave it in a review. Thanks!]**

Regret is a funny thing. You can regret something with all your might, but nothing will ever change.

They all regretted what had happened with Pitch. Up until Manny had explained it all, they had all just assumed that Pitch was who he was because he wanted to be. They had never thought that maybe the villain had a backstory, that maybe the bad guy had feelings, too. They had just assumed that Pitch had started a giant battle so that he could defeat them, and rule the world or something. It had never occurred to them that Pitch might have started the battle because he was _lonely_.

They had all known lonely. Sandy had been alone for fifty years or so, until North was turned into a Guardian. North had wandered around for three years until Sandy had found him. Tooth had been alone for nearly five years, if you didn't count her fairies (but they _were_ her, so how alone _was_ she really?). Bunnymund had isolated himself from everyone for twenty four years, mourning the deaths of his clan. But none of them knew lonely like Jack. He had been alone and ignored for three hundred years.

Man in moon knew all, saw all. He knew who Pitch used to be, knew who Pitch was still inside, under all those layers. Knew what the Fearlings really were, knew what they had done and still did.

He told the Guardians, explained to them what they did not know. He knew their guilt; he felt it too. But he left the final decision to the Guardians. He said nothing else.

It wasn't all that surprising that Jack was the one to take action.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Drop off the earth and die? Stop fear forever?" Pitch scowled, rubbing at his wounded arm.

"No." Jack shook his head, and traced a line on his staff. "Just do what you do best. Spread fear. You said we couldn't do without you, and we can't. The balance of emotions would be tipped. You can't have fun without fear. I died because I didn't have fear. Children need fear to be safe. People need fear to have wonder, fun, hope, dreams."

And Pitch wasn't an enemy anymore.

Regret is a funny thing. You can regret something with all your might, but unless you do something, nothing will ever change.


	6. Underpants

** [I have edited a lot of this story, because...I don't know. Anyway, enjoy!]**

Title: Underpants

The five Guardians were curled around the fire (not literally), each holding their respective drinks. There was a plate of warm cookies balanced on North's knee, and every time he turned around, a white hand would shoot out and steal a cookie or too. The Russian never noticed, until his hand touched a ceramic surface; that was when he shot a suspicious, accusing glare in the winter spirit's direction.

All in all, it was a peaceful night, a light snowfall outside, but a warm and toasty room, which in truth was quite uncomfortable to Jack. It felt stifling and hot to him, but it wasn't _unbearable_, so he kept quiet. Unfortunately, the side effects were extra doses of ADHD, more than Jack already had. Which meant he asked question no one wanted to know the answers to.

"Hey, Tooth?" (Jack)

"Yes, Sweet Tooth?" (Tooth)

"Do you wear underwear? 'Cause, I mean, you're covered in feathers and stuff, and it doesn't look like you're wearing underwear, and I just wanted to know, so, well." Sensing that this question was in no way helping the tense, shocked atmosphere in the room, he stopped.

Tooth's cheeks were as red as the fire.

"Hey, Bunny?"

"What?"

"Well, you don't wear underpants, so where's your – "

"If you say a _word_ more, Frostbite, I will end you."


	7. Big Brother

**Just a note: Anna is Jack's sister, in my fanfiction.**

"Look at this!" Jack's father held up a wrapped package. The wrapping did not look too appealing, but Jack trusted his father to bring back something good.

The package was brown and about the length of his father's hand, stretched out completely. It was lumpy and uneven, but some kind of sweet smell radiated from it.

"Guess what this is!" His father grinned and shook the package proudly. "My father brought these back for me when I was a young boy, too."

"What is it?" Jack finally asked, tilting his head to inspect all angles of the package.

"Maple syrup cakes!" His father placed the package on the table and undid the knot that held the greasy paper together, pulling the string away from the package triumphantly as the paper unfolded slowly by itself.

Sitting on the paper, greasy so that the cakes wouldn't stick to it, were three large squares of a brownish color.

Jack's eyebrows furrowed together, as he stared at the three odd looking squares.

His father broke off a corner and handed it to him, motioning for him to put it in his mouth. Jack nibbled on a side, breaking into a large grin as he tasted the sweetness.

"I like it!"

His father roared with laughter, offering half a square to his wife, who smiled and leaned backwards in her chair, setting her sewing aside.

"I suppose I could have _some_…" As Jack's parents joked, Jack turned to look at his sister.

She hadn't been given any, because she was so little and often overlooked. Jack looked at his corner of the cake, then to his sister.

"Anna, do you want it?"

"Come out and play, Anna! It's fun outside," Jack laughed, beckoning to his sister inside the house.

"I don't want to!" His little sister complained. "It's cold and wet and I don't want to!"

"Aw, come on, it's just snow, isn't it? What's so bad about snow?"

"It's cold and wet and uncomfortable!" Anna repeated.

"It's fun! Don't be such a stuffy old woman, Anna!"

Anna stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed again, thigh-deep in the freshly fallen snow.

"Mama said you weren't supposed to go outside in the snow!" Anna called to her big brother, who continued to prance around like a snow fairy. "You're going to catch a cold!"

"I'm Jack Frost, I _thrive_ in the snow. And you, stuffy old woman?"

"I'm not a stuffy old woman!" Anna leaped from her perch at the windowsill and grabbed her cloak. She was _not_ a 'stuffy old woman'. She'd show him.

"I'm coming to get you, Jackson!"

Anna sneezed pitifully and shot a glare at Jack through her thick bangs. He shrugged nonchalantly, entirely okay.

"Why am _I_ sick? _You_ should be the one who's sick. Whatever happened to 'the bad one gets bad luck'?"

"I guess _you're _the bad one, then." Jack ruffled his sister's hair playfully and she squirmed away. "That's what you get for being a stuffy old lady."

"I am not a stuffy old lady!"

Jack laughed – when was he _not_ laughing? – and picked up the bowl of soup on her nightstand. "All right, little lady. Drink your soup and you'll be good as new in a day or two."

"It's disgusting," Anna frowned. "It's not fair. I never see _you_ drinking this kind of soup."

"That's because I am _way_ too awesome for sickness to get me. You, on the other hand…"

Anna swatted at her brother's hand, almost spilling the dreaded soup. "Be quiet!"

"Get up already, Jack!" Anna punched her brother's shoulder, but he simply groaned and rolled over.

"It's still so early!" He whined. "Can't we go later?"

"All the good ones will be gone if we go later! Get your lazy butt out of bed or I'm going alone!"

"Alright, alright," Jack rolled out of bed and winced as his bare feet touched the not-yet-thawed ground.

"Hurry up, Jack! You're so slow! Mama's been waiting with your breakfast for _ages_!"

"All right, little lady," he chuckled. "You're starting to sound like Ma."

"Because you're still five years old!" Anna shifted her weight from one foot to another and scowled at her brother. "Hurry _up_!"

"Be patient. It'll do you good when you grow older. You're not gonna attract any boys with that fiery temper of yours."

"And _you're_ never going to attract any girls with that attitude of yours!" Anna retorted.

"Ah, but I have my good looks to attract all the women I need." Jack winked at Anna and she giggled.

"Yeah, right!"

Jack had to walk quickly to keep up with his father.

"…the Christmas dance is something to look forward too. There are many candles, so the entire place seems more magical. Everyone wears their best, and all the pretty girls look even prettier." He winked at Jack. "About time for you to court one of them, don't you think?"

Jack coughed.

Anna and their mother trotted behind them, gossiping about things that Jack couldn't hear.

"Ah! Here we are!" Jack's father straightened his tie and grinned down at his son, looking dashing but extremely uncomfortable in his suit. "It'll be fun."

"No need to look like you're going to a slaughterhouse," Jack's mother said. "Oh, let me straighten your outfit. You look a positive mess."

"Mother!"

"Don't give me that look, Jackson. You look fine now." Jack's mother patted his shoulder as a finish and nodded approvingly. "There. Now you look fantastic."

Anna giggled, tugging at her mother's hand. "And me?"

"You look like my beautiful little girl," Jack's mother smiled warmly. "Your new dress makes you look like _such_ a princess. All the boys will be rushing to your side."

Anna giggled again and pranced to her brother, grasping his hand instead. "Hear that, Jack? All the boys will be rushing to my side."

"All the boys like Snotface and Mudbrain," Jack teased. Anna made a face at him.

"Mama, can we go in now?" Anna begged. "Jack's being mean."

Their parents nodded, and Anna raced to the doors, dragging her brother along with her. Jack helped her yank the wide doors open and she darted into, stopping at the entrance with her mouth agape and eyes huge as she took in the scene.

"Jack, look! It's so pretty!" Anna exclaimed.

"You'll catch flies if you keep your mouth like that," was Jack's witty response. In truth, it _was_ pretty, but his suit was far too uncomfortable for him to appreciate anything nice.

His sister short him a dirty look and darted off, blending in with the crowd so well that pretty soon, he couldn't see her at all.

The rest of the night was torture. For the first few minutes of the party, he stood at the walls and in corners awkwardly while everyone else mingled and had a good time. He was soon noticed by those stubborn girls who seemed hell-bent on making him like them, and for most of the party he was scampering all around the place, trying not to let them find him. Eventually though, they _did _find him, and he spent what seemed like hours making small talk with girls who twirled their hair _way_ too often and talked with voices as high-pitched as mice.

"Hey, Jack," Marie squeaked, twirling her hair.

"Um, hi."

"What are you doing here alone? Didn't you bring a date or something?" Twirl hair.

"No. I came here with my family, actually."

"That's so sweet of you! Say, maybe we could be dates for the rest of this party."

Don't get him wrong, Marie as a perfectly nice girl (almost) and her friends were perfectly nice, too. It was just that he wasn't in the slightest interested in girls like her.

"Uh, I'm going to find my sister. So she doesn't get lost or anything." Using this witty excuse, he escaped, twisting through the crowd.

He finally found his little sister looking quite dejected, sitting in one of the wooden chairs placed at the wall, so that everyone could see who was single and who wasn't perfectly.

"Hey, little lady, what're you doing here alone? I thought the boys would be chasing you by now."

Anna plucked at the hem of her new red dress in forlorn silence. She sighed, and shook her head.

"I guess I'm not pretty enough for the boys to like me," she replied, her words wrapped in the let-down depression of a child.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and comfort her, one of those pretty girls walked up to the pair and laid a tiny hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," she cooed.

"Uh, hi."

"Can I speak with you? In private?"

He was about to protest when his sister looked up at him with big, mournful brown eyes and nudged him. "You should go," she told him, and that was all the girl needed.

She dragged him aside and immediately began smiling brightly, though in his mind she looked like a Cheshire cat.

"So I was wondering if we could dance? I heard that they band is playing a slow song next. Would you be my partner?"

At first, he was tempted to say yes. What had he to lose? And anyway, she _was_ pretty, and his father really wanted him to find a girlfriend in the party – that was the whole reason his father had brought him to the party. But then he looked back at his little sister, head bowed, hair covering her face, and then made up his mind.

"Sorry, no," he replied, flashing a small, apologetic smile. "I've already got a date."

He walked back to his little sister nonchalantly, ignoring the disbelieving stare the girl imprinted on his back.

Anna looked up in confusion, at his large grin and then the girl a few meters away.

"What?" She asked.

Jack made a large, dramatic bow and offered her his hand, which she took.

"May I have this dance? I heard they're playing a slow song next."

Anna laughed; she had the best big brother ever.

Anna stormed into the little thatched home, fists balled and face contorted with fury.

She passed her brother, who had been, up until then, reading a book peacefully and quietly. But as she passed, he looked up, and set his book aside.

"Woah, little lady, bad day?"

She ignored him, instead dropping herself down on her straw mattress and glaring at the wall.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No!" She burst out, not being able to keep silent any longer. "It's not you, it's those stupid Gebsen twins!"

Jack cocked his head to one side, his face showing confusion but his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"But they annoy us all the time. Why is this any different?"

Anna scowled at him, gripping the straw in fistfuls and crushing them.

"It's because they insulted Papa and Mama and you!"

"And why is that such a big deal now? It never seemed to bother you before."

"It's because they said the most awful things about you!" Anna cried. "They said that you would never succeed and that you were a ladies' man and a pussy and that you would die alone and poor because you won't be able to do anything!"

Jack couldn't help it; he laughed. He laughed until his stomach hurt, laughed until he wheezed.

Anna glared at him. "It's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" He chortled. "It's absolutely _hilarious_ that you're so bothered by this!"

Anna stared at him, the image of perplexity.

"Who cares what they say about us? They know nothing about me! Who know whether or not I'll succeed in life? Maybe I'll grow old and die poor, like the twins said. Maybe I'll move somewhere else to live and they'll never see me again. I dunno. But you shouldn't take these things to heart."

The next time Anna saw the Gebsen twins, she carried a basket and was returning home from the bakery, holding a bunch of wildflower in her hands to give to Jack.

"Are those for your brother?" Gebsen 1 snickered. "Giving stupid flowers to a stupid boy who won't grow up."

"Grow up," Anna said flatly. "You know nothing about my brother." With that, she flounced home, where her brother congratulated her and ruffled her hair.

** I'm writing and posting this illegally. If my parents knew I was doing this, they'd kill me. I have a huge math test tomorrow, and it's 10:26, so I should be in bed.I DID THIS FOR YOU GUYS.**


	8. Guardian

**[I typed this on my phone. Sorry if there are any mistakes. Note: of there are no italics and instead Caps, or instead of tab, I'm on my phone.]**

"I'm curious about something."

The old Cossack looked up from the block of ice in his hands and immediately broke into a huge smile, seeing the large gray Pooka in the doorway.

"Bunny!" He exclaimed, setting down the block of ice and throwing his hands in the air dramatically. "I did not know you were coming! What happened? What is news?"

A small smile twitched at the ends of Bunny's whiskers at North's enthusiasms as he shook his head. "Nothing, just a question." Pause. "Kind of about Jack."

"Oh?" Huge black eyebrows disappeared onto snowy hair as North spoke. "What did he do? I thought he was on bed behavior?"

"He is," Bunny assured him. "Uh, can I come in?"

North gestured for Bunny to enter, Bunny's large feet sending vibrations through the floor as he hoped in, closing the door behind him. "It's something else."

"Then say that 'something else'!" North exclaimed, making had movements to accompany his speech. "Why you do sneaky-sneaky, like a bandit?"

Bynny shot an irritated look at North and shifted his weight to his right foot, seemingly hesitating. "It's something that's been bugging me for a really long time, something icons never wrap my head around. It's just ... why did Jack help us? In the beginning, he didn't even WANT to be a Guardian, quote, 'You're all hard work and deadlines, and I'm snowballs and fun times."

"What are you saying, Bunny?" North's brow was furrowed thoughtfully, one large hand striking his beard absentmindedly.

"Jack had no reason to help us, other than 'Man in Moon says you will' and blackmailing him with his memories, but he could have gotten the latter - the only thing he cared about - by teaming up with Pitch. He didn't have to save the children of the world, don't even have to stay by our side for so long. He didn't attack us, although we'd ignored him for so long and I was always pretty terrible to him since the blizzard of '68. He could have frozen us all into ice cubes - he did it to the elves." Bunny stopped to inhale and ponder his next words. "I guess what I'm asking," he continued slowly, "is why he helped the children. He saved our sorry behinds, true, but he was mostly aiming to protect the children. He was so good with them, too, knew how to make them laugh and have fun, but he isn't have to bother. Their well-being didn't affect him; hell, most of ten couldn't even see him! So ... why?"

North was set for a while, fingers tapping on the table and the other had still stroking his beard as he thought, a distant look in his baby blue eyes.

"I think, Bunny," he said finally, dragging each word out carefully, a smile forming slowly with each syllable. "That is what makes Jack a true Guardian.

Bunny grinned. "I think you're right."


End file.
